TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- James Franklin wanted to kick back, relax and stick a fork into a home cooked meal Saturday night while his Vanderbilt players rested.

The first-year coach might have scrambled for the Pepto Bismol after he watched then-No. 3 Alabama dismantle then-No. 12 Florida with a 38-10 whipping.

The Commodores are coming off a bye week and will enter Bryant-Denny Stadium at 6 p.m. on Saturday to challenge the second-ranked Crimson Tide on homecoming of all nights.

Alabama has given opponents plenty of stomach aches.

The Tide showed it was a national championship contender in front of 90,888 fans at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, and to millions watching on various technological gadgets around the world.

This marked Alabama's third clobbering of a Top 25 opponent, and its second against teams in the Top 14. The others were a 27-11 win at then-No. 23 Penn State, and a 38-14 win Sept. 24 against then No. 14 Arkansas.

Alabama has displayed punishing attacks on both sides of the football thriving with an aggressive mentality.

The Tide's smothering defense, which was led Saturday by linebacker Courtney Upshaw, is ranked third nationally in total defense. It is limiting opposing offenses to 191.6 yard per game while leading the nation in rushing defense (39.6 ypg) and scoring defense (8.4 ppg), and ranks fifth in passing defense (152 ypg).

Upshaw had an interception returned for a touchdown, and knocked Florida quarterback John Brantley out of the game with a lower leg injury just before halftime. Three of Upshaw's four tackles were for losses, including the sack of Brantley.

Also consider the sold play of Alabama's offensive line Saturday, which helped junior running back Trent Richardson to a career high 29 carries and 181 yards, including two touchdowns. That was Richardson's fourth-consecutive 100-yard game, and his fourth multi-touchdown game of the season.

Richardson is tied for fifth in the nation in scoring with 66 points, including 11 touchdowns.

No sooner did Alabama dispose of Florida than coach Nick Saban was asked if his team should be considered the best in the nation compared with others.

Voters spoke Sunday, moving Alabama up one spot to No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25.

"I can't make any comparisons to our team to anybody else," Saban said. "I haven't seen all these people play. I've seen LSU play a couple of times because they are in our league, and I think they have a fantastic team. One of these days we'll play. ... I haven't even seen Oklahoma play. I can't make any comparisons to what our team is."

Even before Alabama's first win at Florida since 1999, pundits were pointing toward the Tide's scheduled Nov. 5 game at Bryant-Denny Stadium with No. 1 LSU as the showdown for the SEC West title.

At this point, Alabama, LSU and Auburn are 2-0 in SEC play. The Tide and Tigers are both 5-0 overall, and Auburn is 4-1.

Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron, who managed the offense (12-for-25 passing, 140 yards), was asked if this was a statement victory at Florida?

"Yeah, definitely," McCarron said. "Anytime especially in the SEC you win on the road at The Swamp - every game's the same, but this one right now feels pretty good."

The road for Alabama appears less challenging than the previous two weeks, which included a 38-14 win over Arkansas.

After Vanderbilt, Alabama will travel to Mississippi on Oct. 15 before hosting rival Tennessee on Oct. 22. The Tide will then have a bye week entering a potential No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup with LSU.

"If we want to get to the top this was one game we had to win," Upshaw said. "We heard a lot about their (Florida's) offense being No. 1, their running game was supposed to be the best. We wanted to come out and prove what we could do."